Fine Art Auction Pre-Sale Highlights December 2020

Published 18th December 2020

Heywood Hardy (1842-1933) - Lost on the Sands (FS49/1582) offered in our Three
Day Fine Art Sale starting on 26th January 2021 at our salerooms in Exeter, Devon.

Heywood Hardy (1842-1933) - Lost on the Sands (FS49/1582) offered in our Three Day Fine Art Sale starting on 14th April 2021 at our salerooms in Exeter, Devon.

The first Quarterly Fine Sale of 2021 has over 1,300 lots on offer, with silver, jewellery, ceramics, works of art, paintings and furniture being sold over three days, following immediately after the Antiquarian Book Auction. The order of sale has changed slightly from previous auctions with Day One comprising of silver and jewellery, Day Two ceramics and works of art and Day Three including paintings and furniture.

Day One commences at 10:00am with the silver auction of the sale.

Of particular note is a 70 lot single owner private collection of pincushions, vesta cases and matchbox holders (FS49/886), including an Edwardian novelty silver pin cushion, by maker HV Pithey & Co, Birmingham, 1909, in the form of a muzzled bear, which carries a pre-sale estimate of £500-£700.

Also within the silver section is a George III oval table centrepiece (FS49/923), maker John Wakelin & Robert Garrard. Marked London 1795, but with the waisted stem replaced and dated London 1835, this impressive piece weighing 91.22ozs is inviting bids of £2,500-£3,500.

An Edwardian Novelty Silver Pin Cushion, Maker HV Pithey & Co, Birmingham, 1909 (FS49/886).

A George III Oval Table Centrepiece (FS49/923).

Jewellery follows, with a good selection of necklaces, rings, brooches, earrings, wristwatches, etc.

An Art Nouveau gold and mother of pearl necklace in the style of Archibald Knox (FS49/1015), but seemingly unmarked but stamped in gilt Liberty & Co Ltd, Regent Street, London is expected to fetch in the region of £2,000-£3,000, whilst an early 19th Century gold and foiled garnet pendant cross (FS49/1019) is inviting bids of £1,200-£1,500.

An Art Nouveau Gold and Mother of Pearl Necklace (FS49/1015).

An Early 19th Century Gold and Foiled Garnet Pendant Cross (FS49/1019).

Day Two of the auction commences with ceramics and glass, which includes an Islamic pottery bowl of Sultanabad type (FS49/1205) painted in black and blue with a pair of cranes on a profuse foliate ground. The pre-sale estimate on this is £1,800-£2,200, whilst a fine Royal Worcester ewer painted by John Stinton (FS49/1267) with scenes of Highland cattle in a mountainous loch landscape is inviting bids of £1,500-£2,000.

Within the works of art section of the sale, there is a wide array of items being offered, including a Georgian mahogany and inlaid bird cage of pagoda design (FS49/1451) with an estimate of £400-£600, a bronze study of prowling fox (FS49/1468) mounted on an ova naturalistic base with an estimate of £500-£700 and a large Chinese micaceous marble statue of Guanyin (FS49/1486) which carries a pre-sale estimate of £600-£800.

Day Three of the sale commences with the paintings section of the sale.

There is a good selection on offer on the third day of the auction, including a Heywood Hardy (1842-1933) - Lost on the Sands (FS49/1582) signed bottom left, an oil on canvas, 94.5 x 69.5cm, the provenance with Richard Green, Dover Street, London, which has an estimate of £12,000-£16,000 and an oil and pencil drawing by Alfred Wallis (1855-1942) - of a three-masted schooner anchored off a lighthouse (FS49/1655). With a provenance directly from Alfred Wallis to Jim Ede of Kettle's Yard. Gifted by Ede to his nephew as a wedding present, thence by family descent, the pre-sale estimate is £8,000–£12,000.

The final section of the sale is the furniture, with more lots on offer than previous auctions.

Highlights include a 17th Century and later oak refectory table (FS49/1781) with an overhanging plank top, which is being offered with an estimate of £3,000-£4,000 and an early 18th Century Italian tortoiseshell, ebony and coromandel wood architectural cabinet (FS49/1844) on a 19th Century carved mahogany stand is expected to realise £10,000-£15,000.

The auction commences at 10:00am each day.